Page 15 of Maid for the Alien Prince

“I didn’t fire anyone.”

“Well, someone did. And you’re the new Prince, aren’t you?”

“I am. But I don’t manage that stuff.”

“That stuff? That stuff? That stuff is real people with lives and loved ones to take care of.”

“If anyone fired him, it was my manager.”

She glared at me. “Your manager, your responsibility. I can tell you that you made a huge mistake, but I doubt you’ll take any notice. Anyway. There was a… misunderstanding, and I want to clear it up.”

“You came to my room in the middle of the night over a… misunderstanding?”

“Yes. You see, my father…” And she found it difficult to mutter the next few words. “May have… come into possession… of some of your antiques.”

“Come into possession?”

She whirled and jabbed a finger at me. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know!”

“Know what?”

“You know what.” She folded her arms. “I’m not going to say it.”

I just stared at her. “If you’re not going to tell me what’s going on, how can I help you?”

“Okay, look. My father came into possession of some of your antiques. They got sold and now I’m here to make an agreement with you. We will pay you back everything they were worth. There’s no need to prosecute him.”

She stood with her hands on her hips, glaring back at me as if I had been the one to do something wrong.

“These sorts of matters are handled by my manager,” I said. “If you wait until morning, I’m sure he’ll see you—”

“I’m not dealing with him. I don’t know him.”

“You don’t know me either.”

“Sure, I do. You’re the new Prince. The one that came into an inheritance, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, I figure you’ll understand our situation better than some former guard who betrayed his master.”

I ground my teeth. “It was the royals that betrayed me and my family. Ges is the only one who told the truth.”

Camila threw up her hands. “Fine. Whatever. But he does what you say, correct?”

I thought about it and realized I’d never told Ges what to do. But, officially, yes, I supposed I was in charge.

I folded my arms and let Camila continue.

“So, I need you to talk with him and convince him to let us pay you back.”

“How much do you owe?”

“Two heirlooms. We can figure that out later. But I just need to know—and I need your word—that you won’t send my father to prison.”

I didn’t even know who her father was! So why would I send him to prison?

“All right,” I said. “All right. I promise I won’t…”

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